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Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a 3D first-person adventure. Utilizing the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the player can point Samus Aran's Arm Cannon with the Wii Remote pointer and use the Grappling Beam by moving the Nunchuk. The player can choose whether to use the A button or B trigger for firing, with the remaining button used to jump.

The Command Visor was a new feature introduced to the series which allowed Samus to interact with her Gunship remotely, to remove obstacles and dock it at suitable Landing Sites.

The game also features various visors, including the new Command Visor, which lets Samus call her ship to different landing points and use certain ship powerups. The X-Ray Visor featured in Metroid Prime, removed in the second Prime game, makes a reappearance and can be used in conjunction with a new beam (The Nova Beam) that can fire through Phazite walls. The Scan Visor is also reintroduced.[4] Visors can be switched easily by holding the - button and pointing in a direction of the desired visor with the Wii Remote.[5] The variation of the Screw Attack seen in Echoes has also been implemented. It is used by pressing the jump button in synchronized intervals three times, and then continued for a maximum of five times.[6]

Corruption is the second Metroid game (the first being Metroid Prime Hunters) to involve any in-game use of Samus' gunship for anything other than saving. With the aforementioned Command Visor, Samus can call in her ship for an air strike, carry around large objects with the ship's grapple beam, or have it land in a more convenient spot. In addition, Samus can enter her ship to travel to various areas on the planet, or even travel to entirely different planets altogether, such as Norion and Bryyo, among others.

A Pirate Trooper entering Hypermode. Samus and enemies can enter this Phazon-charged state in the game to dramatically increase their attack power and stamina. Utilizing Hypermode is essential to defeat some of the creatures in the game.

In the game, Samus obtains a new suit to handle her Phazon corruption named the Phazon Enhancement Device (PED).[7] A new feature that makes use of Wii Remote functionality allows the player to lock on and strafe around an enemy while simultaneously firing anywhere on screen. (This is called Lock on/ Free aim.)[8] This can be changed in the options so that players can choose the previous method of locking on targets. The Morph Ball also returns, along with the Spring Ball, which can be used by flicking the Wii Remote up.[9] According to Retro Studios, the more intuitive control causes Corruption to be less difficult and faster-paced than Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Scanning has also become easier to perform.[10] Additionally, a new checkpoint system allows players to restart immediately at certain points in the game between save stations, a feature not implemented in the series previously.

Nintendo announced that there would be no online play in Corruption.[11] The game instead introduces a system that rewards players with tokens for completing various achievements. The tokens can be used to purchase unlockable items or sent to friends via the WiiConnect24 service.[12] Gamers can also take screenshots within the game and send them online.[13]

Corruption takes place precisely six months after the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, with the player again taking the role of Samus. The story begins with a meeting between Samus Aran and the Galactic Federation, in which she meets three other bounty hunters; Ghor, Rundas and Gandrayda. Initially, they are hired to help cure the Federation Aurora Unit networks of a Space Pirate virus, but then a pirate attack suddenly occurs, and they are quickly dispatched to the nearby planet Norion and ordered to activate its laser defense system to fend off the assault. It is on Norion that Samus encounters a member of the PED delta squad which is most likely preluding Samus's own use of the device.

The Space Pirates board the Olympus.

During the mission, Samus encounters Ridley once again, and the two end up plummeting down an energy shaft. After a brief fight, Samus is rescued by Rundas while Ridley plummets to an unknown fate. Later, a Phazon meteor (later called a Leviathan) is sighted heading to the planet. The Hunters, having restored power to the defense system, rush to the control room but are attacked by Dark Samus just before activating the defense systems.

With the other hunters unconscious, a heavily wounded Samus manages to activate the laser just in time to destroy the Leviathan Seed. Samus wakes up a month later and learns that she and her fellow Hunters were corrupted by Phazon from Dark Samus' attack. However, the Federation scientists discover that Samus's body was now self-producing Phazon and have added a Phazon Enhancement Device (P.E.D.) to her suit that allows Samus to control her internal Phazon (within limits) and to enter Hypermode. Samus further learns that the other three Hunters had left two weeks before for missions to three other planets where Leviathan Seeds have been observed, but the Federation lost contact with them seven days earlier. Samus is ordered to destroy each Leviathan Seed and seek the whereabouts of the other Hunters.

Samus first travels to Bryyo, the abandoned home of the extinct Bryyonians and now home of the Reptilicus, where she finds out to her horror that the Phazon corruption initially thought to be benign can cause her body to overload with Phazon energy, which could eventually drive her insane, and she must dispel it to prevent further corruption. (If Samus stays in Hypermode past an allotted time, she enters a state called "Corrupted Hypermode" in which the Phazon meter rises up. If the meter maxes out, Samus will be utterly corrupted, and it is an automatic Game Over.) She then learns that Rundas fell to the Phazon corruption and battles him in self-defense. Rundas, upon defeat, gets impaled on his own ice structures and Dark Samus flies in and absorbs him. After acquiring his Ice Missiles and the Ship Missiles that allow her to destroy the shield generator around the Seed, she heads inside where she fights Mogenar, a corrupted Bryyonian war golem.

Upon destruction, however, the resulting explosion overloads Samus with Phazon so she expels the Phazon from her system and proceeds to destroy the Leviathan of Bryyo, eradicating all Phazon from the planet. However, inside her DNA, the Phazon which the Dark Hunter implanted within her proceeds to grow.

Ghor challenges Samus.

She then heads to SkyTown, the flying city created by the Chozo, which is populated by sentient robots and situated on Elysia. She manages to cure the Aurora Unit 217 of its virus but then the now-corrupted Ghor attacks and disables the Aurora, forcing Samus to defeat him, watch as Dark Samus arrives to absorb him, and acquire his Plasma Beam to repair the Aurora. The Aurora then helps her build a Theronian Bomb to let her destroy the Leviathan's shield, allowing Samus to fly in inside, where she fights Helios, the corrupted commander of the Elysian robots. Helios explodes and Samus is further corrupted.

Samus travels to the Space Pirate Homeworld.

The final impacted planet is a Space Pirate Homeworld, where the corruption has spread so quickly that the planet itself is becoming pure Phazon. Unfortunately, the Seed there is so heavily protected that only a single cargo ship is allowed to reach it, but Samus is unable to continue due to the planet's Acid Rain. After briefly partnering with a Federation Marine to get the Hazard Shield, the trooper attempts to kill her and then reveals herself to be Gandrayda. Samus defeats her and then watches helplessly as Dark Samus absorbs her. After equipping herself with more gear, Admiral Dane contacts Samus saying that Federation is planning to lead an invasion of the Pirate Homeworld, but the planet is protected by a massive planetary shield. Samus uses her newly acquired Nova Beam to disable the shield allowing the Federation begin the all-out attack on the Space Pirates.

Omega Ridley, the final Core Guardian.

Samus herself leads a team of Demolition Troopers to destroy the security door to the cargo line leading to the inside of the Pirate Homeworld's Seed, where Omega Ridley awaits. After Ridley's defeat, Samus's corruption reaches a critical point, where she is now virtually glowing with Phazon.

The Aurora Unit 217 then discovers the location of planet Phaaze, the source of all Phazon and Dark Samus's place of origin. Traveling with the Federation via a wormhole created by a Leviathan Battleship stolen from the Pirates, Samus arrives and descends to the planet. As soon she arrives, Samus begins absorbing dangerous amounts of Phazon energy, nearly corrupting her completely, but manages to prevent this by venting all her available energy and locking herself in permanent Hypermode. After venturing to the planet's inner Sanctum, she encounters Dark Samus, who fuses with the stolen Aurora Unit 313 that is linked with Phaaze's core.

Samus fights the corrupted Aurora Unit.

Samus is able to defeat Dark Samus, which destroys the Phazon in her own body and causes the planet to self-destruct. The Federation fleet escapes via another wormhole, but loses contact with Samus in the process. Eventually, though, her ship appears, and she reports that her mission is complete, then flies off into space. After leaving the celebrating Federation fleet, Samus returns to Elysia, where she mourns the loss of her fellow bounty hunters who were also her friends on this mission. Eventually, she leaves Elysia and heads off on her next mission. Should the player collect every single pickup upon completion of the game, the 100% ending shows a mysterious, Phazon-blue spacecraft following Samus's gunship as it flies off.

The game, when shown at E3 2006, looked similar in appearance to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes; however, according to Retro Studios, it would have a much more finished look when the game is complete. It was also announced Corruption will have much larger environments than in Echoes and would be targeted to run at 60 frames per second in the finalized version.[10] The developers also indicated interest in using the WiiConnect24 feature to provide additional content.[10]

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was the first game in the Metroid series in which the characters utilize full voice acting, though previous games in the series used limited voice acting. However, Samus remains silent for the game as in previous titles. The recently released Metroid: Other M is the first Metroid game to give Samus a speaking role.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime stated in a 2007 interview that the game was "not going to ship by June"[14] and set it at a summer 2007 release date at the earliest. Later he hinted, "when we release it, it will be perfect. And if that's a little later than folks would have liked, I'm hoping they're going to be happy." [15] Some of the first gameplay footage to be shown of the game was seen at Nintendo's Media Release at E3 2006 and it was confirmed by Retro Studios that Corruption will be the last game in the Prime trilogy. Nintendo illustrated how Corruption will take advantage of the special abilities of the Wii Remote as demonstrated by a version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, modified for the Wii, shown at the Tokyo Game Show in 2005.

In late April, 2007, IGN editor Matt Casamassina revealed that the game would be shown in detail during May of that year. He later reported that this event would take place the week of May 20. The publication also announced that the title will be released on August 20, 2007 in the United States.[16] Nintendo of America later announced to have moved the release date to August 27, 2007.[1][17] Nintendo later announced an "in stores" date of August 28.[2] A release in Europe was planned for October 26.[3]

At the Media Summit held by Nintendo during the week of May 21, 2007, Reggie Fils-Aime noted about Corruption compared to the rest of the franchise that players have "never played it this way before". He also noted that Nintendo employees who had seen the game in action claimed that it "will reinvent the control scheme for a first-person shooter", and that the game is the closest a console title can get to PC control, breaking through the lens of how the game is played.[18] IGN commented on an updated version of the game being played at E3, saying that it "plays better than any first-person console game ever."[19]

Nintendo had initially been criticized for an apparent lack of promotion and marketing for Corruption. IGN compared the minimal hype for the title to the large amount for the original Metroid Prime, which was marketed with its own live action advertisement. The publication assumed that Nintendo's recent actions were due to the company's new focus on casual game styles on their console and relatively low sales of Echoes. When questioned on this, Nintendo of America replied, "Nintendo fans will be surprised by the quantity and quality of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption information that becomes available before the game launches on Aug. 27. Your patience will be rewarded (or Corrupted)."[20]

Following this promise, Nintendo released the Metroid Prime 3 Preview Channel on August 10, 2007 in North America. This channel, available as a free download via the Wii Shop Channel, allows Wii owners to view preview videos of the game. These include previously unannounced details the game's plot and battle sequences from within the game. The channel also enables the user to view promotional artwork by moving the Wii Remote pointer across the screen.[1]

Starting with the Preview channel, Nintendo launched a "month of Metroid" in North America. It included announcements of additional videos that would become available as well as a Virtual Console download of Metroid for the NES on August 13. This would be followed by Super Metroid for the SNES available for download on August 20 and the release of Corruption one week thereafter.[1] Matt Casamassina stated that his critique of the marketing behind the game still stands, since it is only effective for the percentage of Wii owners who download the free channel.[21]

Nintendo Power gave Corruption a perfect 10/10 rating. The game is one of the few to achieve this perfect score, following Resident Evil 4 in January 2005 and preceding Super Smash Bros. Brawl the following month. IGN awarded the game a 9.5 out of 10. The review noted that it was beautifully designed and is currently the best game for the Wii. Despite citing that the game is similar to the previous games therefore lowering its score by a small margin, IGN did conclude that it is the best game in the Prime trilogy.[22]

Corruption scored a 9.6 out of 10 in a Gametrailers.com video review. The reviewer praised the more user-friendly and action-packed nature of the game compared to Metroid Prime and Echoes. The site also praised the superior motion-sensitive controls, stating, "After playing Metroid Prime 3 you'll never want to play a shooter with dual analog controls again, it's that good." They further added that those elements make Corruption far superior to the original Metroid Prime.[23]

1UP.com gave the game a 9 out of 10. The review highlighted the controls and said the graphics were "some of the best visuals in gaming, period".[24] GameSpot, who gave the game 8.5 out of 10, stated the game possessed enjoyable puzzles, boss battles, atmospheric levels and smooth gameplay. They also stated some contextual actions do not work well and that the controls took away some of the game's difficulty. Furthermore, they stated the game was not very different from the earlier installments in the series.[27]

Metroid Prime Trilogy was announced on May 22, 2009 for release in North America on August 24 of the same year for $49.99. The disc includes Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption with Wii controls, as well as new content, menus, and unlockable media. Certain changes made to the PAL version of Corruption (such as replacing Admiral Dane's "Damn!" with "No!") are placed in the Trilogy version as well.

As an in-joke, various phrases appear during the opening cutscene that are "corrupted" strings and data from the game itself, suggesting that it has been "corrupted" (breaking the fourth wall): "V o u s m o u r e z .s i v otre". In French, this literally translates to "Y o u d i e .i f y our". This is a fragment of the French translation of the explanation of permanent Hyper Mode, shown right after the cut scene when Samus enters Phaaze ("If your Phazon level fills completely, you will die.") As well, near the end of the sequence, there is another phrase: "m o u r r a i i i i i. ." This is basically "[I] will dieeeee...". Another phrase appears: "andrayda hat sich die Gestalt" German for "andrayda has ... herself the shape" (the verb would be at the end of the sentence, which is missing), this appears to be a part of the German translation of the description of Hunter Gandrayda's shape-shifting abilities. Another German word, Kämpfen (fighting), can be seen near the start of the data. The English words 'error' and 'danger' can also be seen in the data sequence, near the beginning. The words "Wii Format" can also be seen in the data. Numbers in hexadecimal format are visible at the bottom of the screen. In ASCII they read: "WAKE UP. WAKE UP. I AM AWAKESamus"

When a non-boss enemy is killed in this game, the body turns black and disintegrates, rather than fading away as in the previous Prime games. Supposedly, this is to give the game a more realistic feel and it implies that Samus' weapons burn and deteriorate enemies instead of killing like a normal bullet would. Some dead bodies encountered on the Valhalla and SkyTown will crumble to dust if shot, referencing the victims of the baby Samus comes across at the end of Super Metroid.

Corruption is notably the first Metroid game to have what could be possibly considered an obscenity uttered by any of the characters (Admiral Dane exclaims "Damn!" when he realizes that the Pirates intend to shut down the Norion defense system). This was removed in the English PAL version and Metroid Prime Trilogy and replaced with "No!". Profanity has been shown in some Metroid series manga before, mainly Samus and Joey and the 2002 manga. Similar lines were also found in the code of Metroid: Other M.

Corruption is the only Metroid game to not feature some sort of backstory in the instruction booklet.

This is one of the few Metroid games where Samus does not lose some of her abilities in the first area; instead some of her previous upgrades she originally had from the other two Prime games are not included (such as the Missile Launcher), and Samus finds new abilities rather than restoring her old upgrades.

Corruption is the first Prime game to introduce beam and Missile stacking, due to the inclusion of Hypermode.

Samus' arm cannon "recalibrating" (click to see animation).

When the Power Beam is the only beam weapon Samus has collected, the Arm Cannon will momentarily go into the charging configuration (where sections of the cannon split and yellow energy can be seen inside) whenever the player approaches places that make Samus lower her weapon such as terminals or allies that can be spoken to. This feature can be seen as perhaps recalibrating the Cannon. (It can also be seen in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime, if the player leaves the game idle long enough.)

Corruption is the only Prime game (in addition to Metroid Fusion) that seems to break the fourth wall. It is in the 100% ending when Samus is flying back to the G.F.S. Olympus and gives the player a thumbs-up. It is unlikely that Samus is directing it to Admiral Dane at that time, (because she does it when flying past the G.F.S. Olympus' window) as her Gunship's window is tinted.

Another example may be when Samus obtains the X-Ray Visor, she gasps while looking at the screen, as if the X-Ray Visor lets her see the player.

Corruption and Metroid: Other M are the only Metroid games in which Samus removes her helmet and even armor (either willingly or unwillingly) several times during the course of the story (at the beginning, after defeating Mogenar when she vomits Phazon, and in the ending).

After acquiring the Screw Attack, the HUD stays fixed in one place and unable to move, as if the player were locked on to something in the half second before the cutscene where the platforms crumble and the Chozo Statue raises its hand.

As Samus becomes more corrupted in the game, one of her eyes turns completely black and a vein of blue Phazon can be seen on her face when it is mirrored on the Scan Visor. This vein grows slightly as she is corrupted further.

Certain aspects of the game seem to be darker than past Metroid games. Examples of this are seen in Admiral Dane's profanity, Rundas' death by being impaled by a glacier and the presence of red blood in the Game Over sequence (which is replaced with dark blue Phazon-corrupted blood in the Terminal Corruption sequence).

A prototype of Corruption, dated from March 2, 2006, was leaked on the internet in January 2012 and developed to run on GameCube SDK units with additional RAM. Oddly, the game's introduction can be played with a GameCube controller. The prototype includes several debug options.[33]